


do it for him

by CycloneRachel



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Attempted Murder, Gen, One Shot, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, Unresolved Emotional Tension, hinted Kara Danvers/Querl Dox
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CycloneRachel/pseuds/CycloneRachel
Summary: If Lex believed in luck, he would think that his own was almost too good.Not only was the traitor- the former director of his organization, the so-called twelfth-level intellect, who he’d thought was starting to see things his way before he had tried to kill himself saving his friends- alive, he was also being held underneath the LuthorCorp building.He didn’t admit he made mistakes, as a rule. But this was his chance to rectify a mistake he’d just found out he had made- dispose of Dox, snuff out the Brainiac family line before they could cause him any more trouble and kill one of the Super-friends, all at the same time.It would be satisfying, at the very least, and as he went down to the basement he nearly counted down the minutes before another loose end of his was tied up, another problem no more.(unfortunately for Lex, there was someone there with Brainy- someone who would still protect him, because he'd done the same for her)
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Lex Luthor, Kara Danvers & Querl Dox
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	do it for him

**Author's Note:**

> god. this took way too long to write.
> 
> (like I started writing this on Saturday, because I was thinking about what might happen if Lex did find Brainy when he wasn't recovered, and then remembered that he would definitely be able to find him in some way? but for some reason (probably because I find writing Lex dialogue difficult) I couldn't finish it until now.)
> 
> But now it's done, and I hope you enjoy it! even despite the subject matter. Sorry about that.

He had tied up all his loose ends.

Or at least, they had mostly been tied up for him- his sister, inevitably, had abandoned him and gone back to the Kryptonian she seemed to believe she could still be friends with. The false gods that made up Leviathan had either died or been sealed up in a bottle by Director Dox.

And Director Dox… he was dead.

Really, the only thing left was Supergirl herself, as well as all her friends that he didn’t care enough about to remember their names. And with the power of the bottled gods at his disposal, the potential of immortality practically in his grasp already- well, Supergirl may have been considered a goddess on this world already, but she didn’t stand a chance against him. If her friends were threatened, she would fall. It was as simple as that.

But as he discovered in the DEO one night (effectively being its owner and director now, until he could find someone new to take over for Dox- someone who was most definitely not friends with Supergirl, he’d learned his lesson there), it wasn’t.

~

It was like Reign all over again, from a different perspective.

Except instead of Kara not knowing that Lena was running tests on someone who’d become her friend (and trying to separate her from the villain who’d put Kara into a coma) until it was too late, she and Lena and the rest of the Super-friends were the only ones who knew the truth about Brainy, and were dedicated to healing him.

Kara knew that it hadn’t been that long, since J’onn had brought him back, and the team had decided that putting him in quarantine down here was the best way to keep him safe and make sure the radiation didn’t spread. With Lena tentatively back on their side, the team had access to technology that- hopefully- would keep him alive, and they could keep track of how he was healing.

(Of course, they weren’t going to pressure him into coming back immediately, or question him about what happened. He could do that on his own time, and even though it was harder for some of them than others, they knew that following Kara’s motto was the right way to proceed then.)

But it had felt like an eternity, watching Brainy sleep and only rarely come back to consciousness. There were many times when Kara had come down to this room, Brainy’s heartbeat in her ears, and watched him there, wishing that she could’ve apologized to him. That she could have trusted him more… anything, really.

(Even though he wasn’t listening, she had told him that- as well as cried, when she hadn’t had any words left)

He was stable, and out of danger. Everything was going to be fine- that was what she kept telling herself.

She just wanted to be able to talk to him, and hear his reassurance in person.

However, just like she supposed he’d had to wait when her life was at risk, she too would wait for him to wake up for good.

~

If Lex believed in luck, he would think that his own was almost too good.

Not only was the traitor- the former director of his organization, the so-called twelfth-level intellect, who he’d thought was starting to see things his way before he had tried to kill himself saving his friends- alive, he was also being held underneath the LuthorCorp building.

He didn’t admit he made mistakes, as a rule. But this was his chance to rectify a mistake he’d just found out he had made- dispose of Dox, snuff out the Brainiac family line before they could cause him any more trouble and kill one of the Super-friends, all at the same time.

It would be satisfying, at the very least, and as he went down to the basement he nearly counted down the minutes before another loose end of his was tied up, another problem no more.

~

There was another heartbeat, getting closer to the basement.

Kara had up to that point been focused on Brainy- watching the machines he was hooked up to, listening to his heartbeat. It was weak, and sometimes unsteady, but she could still hear it, which meant he was alive.

He wasn’t okay, by any stretch of the imagination. He still had a recovery process ahead of him. But as long as he was breathing, she had hope- for him, and for their second chance.

This new visitor, however, jarred her concentration, and as much as she tried to multitask, she had to be prepared for whoever was coming down there.

Kara knew it wasn’t any of her friends- she’d learned to recognize them with her super-hearing. But this newcomer still felt familiar, and by the time the elevator doors opened, that feeling made perfect sense.

“Lex.”

~

“Three years ago.” Lex started, walking over to Brainy. Kara blocked him from Lex’s view, but he was still looking at Brainy, how he was sleeping, arms laying by his sides over the blanket he was covered by. “Do you remember, Supergirl? Alex Danvers was kidnapped and held hostage by Richard Malverne. And you found her because…”

“She ripped her tracker out.” Kara said.

Of course I remember. And it’s something that you don’t deserve to be talking about.

“Bingo.”

Kara threw a glance back at Brainy, who hadn’t stirred.

“He still has his tracker.” She said. “And it led you here.”

“Got it in one.” Lex answered, one hand still on the gun he was carrying. “You know, you and your friends almost fooled me. I did believe Dox had died on the Leviathan ship. But just like any roach- just like you- for now, he continues to live on.”

He didn’t seem happy about that, and it was something Kara could celebrate- if her eyes weren’t burning already, if she wasn’t waiting for whatever he was going to do to Brainy.

“For now?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Lex asked her. “I have to kill him. He _wanted_ to die alone, sacrificing his life like any of you pathetic little heroes, and even if he didn’t get it back then, he may as well now.”

“No.” Kara said, making sure that she wasn’t leaving an opening for Lex to shoot him. “I won’t let you.”

Lex stared at her, for a moment, before he started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“That’s exactly what _he_ said.” Lex answered, scoffing. “When I arrived to pick up the false gods he’d bottled. He believed I _underestimated_ him- and that he would never let me kill you.”

He sounded dismissive, at that- like there was no way Brainy could have been able to stop him from killing Kara or her friends, and that it was obvious Lex knew Brainy’s plan.

Kara had only heard J’onn’s perception of the events- that while she was inside Obsidian Platinum, trying to convince the world that they didn’t just need to rely on a virtual reality system (in a way that Lena later remarked was very _Ready Player One_ ), and the rest of her friends were trying to stop Rama Khan and the rest of Leviathan, Brainy had managed to sneak aboard the Leviathan ship, and had in the end contained the gods.

Even if it had also nearly cost him his life, being on the ship and enduring the radiation that permeated it.

And from what Lex was saying, the gods had been contained in a bottle- just like what any other Brainiac would have done to planets.

Kara’s heart warmed, hearing that, despite the situation she was in. Just like any of her friends who came from dark pasts, with family members who had negative reputations, he’d managed to reclaim it for good, and she was proud of him.

(As she had been, too, when he’d removed his inhibitors.)

(She hoped she would be able to tell him that, when he woke up)

“If you’re asking me, I think he was right.” She said.

“Even though he betrayed all of you.” Lex stated. “He let the DEO fall, and nearly let all of the Kryptonite in it kill you. Does that really make him still your friend? Can you still protect him, knowing that he didn’t do the same for you?”

At some point, Kara might have said no- knowing how it felt like he was lost to her and the others, like he had drifted away with no explanation. But she remembered the look in his eyes when he asked her to use Myriad, how he had trusted her absolutely and expected nothing in return. How ever since they had first met, he was dedicated to helping her, making sure that she was safe- and how even recently, that hadn’t changed.

(During the attack on the DEO, she had heard him, while he was trapped under a fallen piece of the building. It had been quiet, inaudible to anyone who didn’t have super-hearing, but he had still said her name, and if he hadn’t been trapped, he could have helped her then, too.

Wanted to, in fact, even though his loyalties lay with Lex at that moment.

And although he couldn’t… it still counted for something.)

“I can.” She answered. “And I will- no matter what you say.”

_And he did protect me- just not then._

_But I didn’t see it until it was too late._

Lex groaned.

“You heroes.” He said. “Dox was useful, but I should have seen it before- he was just like you, all along.”

He pointed the gun at Brainy again, almost pulling the trigger.

“And as valuable as he was when he _had_ let go of all of you… I don’t need him anymore.”

~

The world seemed to slow down, after that- although after she grabbed the gun, bullets still safely contained in it, everything sped up again. Kara wrenched the gun out of Lex’s hands, and folded it between them, making sure it was useless before turning her attention back to Lex himself.

“No Kryptonite?” she asked, and smiled as she saw that, for once, he looked surprised.

“No.” Lex said. “But I still win- because you won’t kill me. You can’t. Still the city’s hero, remember?”

_Unfortunately._

“I know.” Kara answered, and Lex was back to his collected composure.

“Then you’ll let me leave.”

Kara wanted to groan.

“Yes, I will.” She said. “But if you come back, know that I won’t be alone.”

“Neither will I.” Lex told her, and then as if nothing had happened and he hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary, he went back to the elevator.

(Her hands were shaking as she watched him leave, and her eyes didn’t stop burning until after the elevator doors closed.)

(She wasn’t sure what exactly he meant- was it just because he’d taken the bottle?

But regardless, she was going to make sure she kept her promise as well, and if Lex made his way back down to attempt this again, she’d know he would regret it.)

Soon, Kara couldn’t see him anymore, and her focus was back to Brainy, and his heartbeat, and his eyes that were opening as he struggled to stay awake.

“Brainy?” she asked, relaxing, her voice no longer confrontational. Instead she was gentle, and she gave him a smile as he managed to sit up. “Are you okay?”

“I am unharmed.” He said, his gaze going to her hands, before he noticed how her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “What about you? Did something happen, while I was…”

Kara clasped one of his hands between both of hers, as she nodded.

“Lex tried to break in.” she said. “But I handled it.”

Brainy’s face grew grave, as he seemed to be looking past her, probably imagining Lex in the room.

“Thank you.” He answered.

“You’re welcome.” Kara said. “And… I never thanked you.”

“For what?”

His confusion almost broke her heart, as she gently squeezed his hand.

“Everything.”

“Betraying you? Not being able to see that Lex would try to kill you regardless of what I did involving Leviathan, and regardless of the order in which we set our plan into motion?”

Kara shook her head.

“I know you never wanted to betray me.” She said. “Or any of us. And, between you and me… I would’ve done the exact same thing you did. Also, just given the little talk Lex and I had, I don’t think he saw that coming at all.”

Brainy considered it, smiling now as he looked up at her again.

“That is reassuring.” He said.

“Thought so. And, Brainy?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for saving my life- all the times you’ve done it, or even tried to. What I said a few months ago, about you being good to your core? It’s still accurate. You are a true hero, and once you get better, I promise we’ll take Lex down together.”

“It would be an honor.”


End file.
